Giant cockroaches, or blaberids, are the second-largest cockroach family by number of species. Mostly distributed in warmer climates worldwide, this family is based on the American genus Blaberus, but much of the diversity is also found in Africa and Asia.
Blattidae is a cockroach family in the order Blattodea containing several of the most common household cockroaches. Notable species include:
Ectobiidae is a family of the order Blattodea (cockroaches). This family contains many of the smaller common household pest cockroaches, among others. They are sometimes called wood cockroaches. A few notable species include:
Corydiidae, previously known as Polyphagidae, is a family of the order Blattodea (cockroaches). Many are known as sand cockroaches. The family is divided into five subfamilies, comprising some 40 genera. One prominent species is the desert cockroach, Arenivaga investigata.
Periplaneta is a genus of cockroaches containing some of the well-known pest species with cosmopolitan distributions, such as:
Blattabacterium is a genus of obligate mutualistic endosymbiont bacteria that are believed to inhabit all species of cockroach studied to date, with the exception of the genus Nocticola. The genus' presence in the termite Mastotermes darwiniensis led to speculation, later confirmed, that termites and cockroaches are evolutionarily linked.
Panchlora is a genus of cockroaches in the subfamily Panchlorinae, erected by Hermann Burmeister in 1838. Species are mostly found in the Americas and Africa. Most species in this genus are green in colour, but some are cream or grey.
Ectobius is a genus of non-cosmopolitan cockroaches once thought native to the Old World and described by Stephens in 1835, belonging to the family Ectobiidae, subfamily Ectobiinae. The discovery of 4 ectobius cockroaches in Colorado dating to 49 million years ago suggests the genus actually originated in North America. This genus has been subject to a number of revisions.
Pseudophoraspis is a genus of cockroaches.
Lucihormetica verrucosa is a species of giant cockroach in the family Blaberidae, commonly known as the warty glowspot cockroach. It is native to Venezuela and Colombia.
Diploptera punctata, the Pacific beetle cockroach, is a species of cockroach in the family Blaberidae and subfamily Diplopterinae. It is one of the few cockroach species that is viviparous. Adults are chemically defended, having a modified tracheal gland and spiracle on each side which squirts quinones which can poison or discourage a predator.
Eucorydia is a genus of cockroaches. Species are found in Asia. They are characterized by a metallic greenish-bluish pronotum and sometimes orange markings on the tegmina and/or abdomen.
The Pseudophyllodromiinae are a subfamily of cockroaches, in the family Ectobiidae, with a world-wide distribution.
Symploce is a genus of cockroach in the family Ectobiidae.
Rhabdoblatta is a genus of cockroaches in the subfamily Epilamprinae. Species have been recorded from Africa, East, Southeast and South Asia.
Balta is a genus of cockroaches in the sub family Pseudophyllodromiinae. Found in Asia, Africa, Australia and Oceania. The genus was created in 1893 by Johann Tepper.
Anaplecta is a genus in the family Anaplectidae. There are at least 20 described species in Anaplecta.
Panesthia is a large genus of burrowing giant cockroach in the subfamily Panesthiinae. It is subsocial and its species are mainly found in Southeast Asia, coastal East Asia, Australasia, and Indo-Malaysia.
Rhabdoblattella is a genus of South East Asian cockroaches in the family Blaberidae, erected by L.N. Anisyutkin in 1999. It was subsequently placed in the monotypic subfamily Rhabdoblattellinae from which the species R. annamensis had been transferred from the similar genus Rhabdoblatta. Species records are from Indochina and China.
